Prepayment telephone



June 14, 1932. KF W. THALHAMMER 1,862,639

PBEPAYMENT TELEPHONE Filed July 8. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 0 i l V 473 0 50 llmE/vllllllllllnvll,

Alfoz/72610' June 14, 1932. K, W THALHAMMER 1,862,639

PREPAYMENT TELEPHONE Fixed July 8) 1,926 4 sheets-sheet 2 PREPAYMENT TELEPHONE Filed July 8, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 y 1/rw Zamey June 14, 1932. K. w. THALHAMMER PREPAYMENT TELEPHONE Filed July 8, 1,926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented .inne le', i932.

KARL

I'ALI-AEIMER, 0F LOS ANGELES, CLIFOENEA PR-EPAYMENT TELEPHONE Application. filed July 8, 1926.

rllhis invention relates to coin operated telephone pay stations. in such devices, it is customary to operate the telephone by causing the coin directly or indirectly to complete the communication from the station to the central oii'ice. lt is evident that such an arrangement is necessarily complex and expensive.

it is one or" the objects of my invention to provide a device that operates on the tele* phone to make it ready for use, by the aid of simple and inexpensive apparatus.

l find that this object can be easily accomplished by providing a mechanical lock for the telephone, which can be unlocked by the deposition oi a coin of a certain de'linite size. It is accordingly another object of my invention to provide a coin operated lock for a telephone.

In some respects, my device is not necessarily limited for use in connection with telephones, but can be readily appiied to other forms of' instrumentalities. There-tore still another object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive coin operated locking device.

In connection With the use of the device for telephones, it is stiil another object of my invention to provide a compact coin operated devic-e that can be directly supported on the telephone standard, and that can bc very easily installed and removed, yet Without danger of unauthorized removal.

lilly invention possesses many other advantages, and has other objects Which may be made more easily apparent trom a consideration of several embodiments of my invention. For this purpose l have shown a few forms in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. l shall now proceed to describe these Jiiorms in detail., -which illustrate the general principles of my invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since the scope ot my invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Referring to the rings:

Fig. l is a side elevation oi' a telephone With my device installed thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken along plane 2 2 of Fig. l;

Serial N'o. 121,136.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional \.fie'\v, taken along plane 3-3 ot 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional vien', taken along plane ll-il of 2;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along plane 5 5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary side view of the device, taken from plane GWG or' Fig.

Fig. 7 is a detail. section taken along plane 7-7 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a detail fragmentary view, taken from a position .indicated by arrow 8 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 9 is a. front elevation of a telephone having a. modiiied form of coin operated device attached thereto;

Fig. l0 is a sectional View, taken plane lO-lO of Fig. 9;

Fig. ll is a detail section, plane ll-1l of Fig. l0;

Fig. l2 is a detail section, plane 12-12 of Fig. l0;

Fig. 13 is a detail section, plane 13-13 of Fig. l0;

Fig. le is a fragmentary back view, taken along plane lei-1e of Fig. l2; and

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary sectional View, showing the position of the coin as it operates the unlocking device.

In Figs. l to 8 inclusive, l show a coin operated device attached to the ordinary desir type telephone 2l, the device acting to locl; the receiver hoolr 22 against vertical movement until such time as it is unlocked by the operation of the device. The locking device is in the form of a pivoted lever 23 Figs. 5 and 6) With a forked extremity 2athat embraces the receiver hoolr 22.

In the present instance, the locking lever 23 is pivoted on a pin 25 supported in bosses 26 and 27 that are formed integrally with the casing` halves 28 and 29. These halves are riveted or otherwise fastened togetln.1 as indicated at 30. through ears or the like, and when so 'fastened together, serve to house substantially all of the operating mechanism, and to form a tubular space Bl in which the coins are deposited aft-er they serve to unlock lever 28.

The manner in which casing 28-29 is held along taken a lon g taken along taken along sertion of the screw.

in position on the telephone standard will now be described. Casing half 29 is shown as having integrally formed therewith, a pair of spaced lugs 32 and 33, which are formed with concave surfaces at their ends to contact snugly with the round surface of the telephone standard. A clamp (Fig. 7) of flexible metal loops around the standard between the two lugs 32 and 33. A bar 35 is fastened to the ends of the loop, as by screws. This bar is centrally threaded for the acc-oinmodation of a clamping screw 36, passing through the boss 3T on easing half 29. n large hole 38 in the other half 28 permits inlt is evident that when screw 36 is tightened, the loop 3-l is drawn tightly against the telephone standard, and at the same time, lugs 32 and 33 are also urged tightly against the telephone. Thus bar serves to provide a stationary threaded aperture for tightening the lugs 32 and 33, yet without in any way altering the telephone standard. The prepayment attachment can therefore be installed on existing` telephones, without any drilling, tapping, or the like, of any part of the telephone. Although the desk type of phone is illustrated, it is evident that the casing could readily be attached to other forms also.

In order to prevent unauthorized removal of the device from the phone, I arrange matters in such a way that the screw 3G can be covered up. For this purpose, a tube 39 is inserted in the bottom of casing 23-29, which is made from resilient material `and is split along its length to permit it to expand freely against the inner surface of the casing, and to be retained in place by friction. The tube is inserted as far as ridge 38', in the casing, serving as a stop. To expose hole 38, the tube mustbe moved outwardly. Otherwise, when tube 39 in its normal position, the opening 3S is closed, and it is not possible then to reach the screw 36 through that opening.

il lid l0 can be provided for the bottom of the casing, hinged between lugs ll, and having an extension Ll2 at its free end, entering between lugs ii3 on the easing. A slot la in this extension permits entry of the locking tongue Ll5 of a small lock 46.

The mechanism for locking and unlocking the lever arm 23 will now be described. As indicated most clearlyvv in Fig. 2, the lever has a projection 47, which prevents clockwise rotation of lever 23 when the receiver 4:8 is removed frein hook 22, due to the provision of a movable abutment formed by rod i9 2 and 5). lllhen rod 49 is moved upwardly out of the path of projection 47, the receiver hooi; 22 is then released for the process of telephoning.

Rod i9 is guided in a guide piece 50 which is held in a recess formed in the cleft between the two half-casings, 28 29, as is very clearly indicated in ig. El clearance hole 5l is also similarly formed in the cleft for the '-.vire 52 connecting locking bar 49 with an operating lever This lever, when rocked in a countercloclwise direction, serves to pull wire 52 upward, but it is resiliently urged to closing position, as by a spring 5d. The lever 53 is fastened to a pin 55, pivoted at one side in boss (Fig. 4), and on the other side carrying an enlarged portion 5T and asquared portion 5S, covered by a socket 59 to prevent unauthorized tampering. When it is desire to answer the telephone, or to use it without paying (as may be occasioned when the subscriber himself desires to use the phone), a socket hey wrench can be inserted in socket 59 to engage the square 58 and 'thereby to roel; lever 53 to unlock the locking lever 23.

However, the rocking of the lever is intended to be accomplished most usually by a coin device. For this purpose, a mechanism is arranged to move a coin of definite size past the free end of the arm G0 of the lever 53 so that the edge of the coin, acting as a cam, pushes this arm to the left as viewed in lfig. 2. For this purpose, T provide a rotating coin holder 6l, formed by a disc 62 (Fig. 3) which has a slot 63 as of generally square configuration, and a closing disc (Sli which covers all of the slot but a na row opening at the periphery of disc Si. int-o which the coin 65 can be dropped. The covering disc 6l can be held to the slotted disc 62 as by a number of dowels 65, since with casings 28- 29 riveted together, these discs are confined between walls 6T and 65 of the casing and cannot be readily separated. in F ig. 2, disc 64: is omitted in order to show discv 62 to better advantage.

The slot 63 is so proportioned that the coin 65 projects somewhat out of the slot and forms a cam projection at the edge of the disc 62; but nevertheless the width of the slot is just large enough to accommodate the diameter of coin G5. By proper proportioning, only coins of a definite denomination can be acconnnodated in the slot in such manner as to operate the mechanism. Thus in the present instance, a nichel is provided for. A tencent piece or a one-cent piece would be too small to provide a suiheient cam projection for the operation of arm 60. The manner in which the coin moves arm will now be described.

The coin holder 6l carries a shaft 68 (Fig. 3) journaled in a boss 69 and extending outside of casing half 28. lt carries a knurled linger piece TO to permit manual rotation of the coin holder. As this holder with the coin in it, is rotated in a counterclockwise direction. it carries the coin 65 around to arm 60, which it pushes to the left; and this movement lifts locking bar 49 outof the path of travel of projection l? and frees lever 23. The spring 54 is made strong enough so as to keep arm in position until positively urged to the left by the cam movement, and so as to retain the coin in place in the coin holder, against gravity.

The coin can be deposited in slot 63 through a mouth or chute 71 termed in the cleft of the casing, the piece being iirstturned to line up the slot in the mouth, as shown in Fig. 2. Furthermore, the mouth opening is purposely such that the slot 63 must be rotated through a considerable angle from loading position to operating position, whereby all possibility ot' removing the coin from the slot after it has served its purpose to tilt lever 53, is obviated. The casing halves 28 and 29 are also purposely formed with an interior wall 72 concentric with coin holder 61 and of just suliicient size to permit coin 65 to go past. In this way, the coin is properly held in the slot 63 all the way to the lever arm 60. A boss 73 also extends across the casing beyond the lever 53, to hold ythe coin 65 in place until holder 61 is turned suiheiently to discharge the co-in into the space 31 in the casing, after it has served its purpose.

It is evident that without further precautions, holder 61 could be rotated just enough to operate arm 60, and could then be turned backwards to the position ot Fig. 2, when coin 65 could be removed instead of being deposited in space 31. To obviate this, I provide a pawl and ratchet arrangement which prevents the holder fromI being rotated except in a counterclockwise direction after the coin 65 operates lever arm 60. For this purpose, a spring pawl 74 is provided, adapted to engage in notches 75 in the edge of holder 61. One notch (which is shown in Fig. 2 as engaged) serves to hold the holder 61 in proper position for the deposition of coin 65. The other set of notches are spaced from this notch, and is engaged just before coin 65 reaches its operating position, and continues to be engaged f until coin 65 is dropped into receptacle 31.

Tn order to ensure against a coin falling into the space back of lever arm 60, where spring 54 is located, and thus cause a jam, the operating face of arm 60 is purposely made wideenough to overlap the entire width of slot 63. This is shown most clearly in Fig. 3.

A spring pressed ball 76 (Fig. 3) is provided in a pocket 7 7 to engage slight depressions in the side of holder 61 and thereby exert a slight force against turning of knob 70 from the positions of loading and unleading the coin, and to assist pawl 74 to position the holder 61.

It Sometimes happens that the attention otl the central telephone exchange must be attracted by moving the receiver hook 22 up and down. Such movement may be desirable for other purposes also. In order to t ensure that such movement can be accomplished without relooking the lever 23 once it is released for the call, I provide a lever detent 78, resiliently urged in clockwise direction by a spring 79 fastened to it, and arranged to operate as a stop for limiting the downward movement of lever 23, as by the aid of projection 80 on this lever. Thus the lever is prevented from moving so far down as to permit locking bar 49 to drop into locking position. then the conversation is tinished, the detent 78 is pressed with the finger, and the receiver 48 is hung on the hook 22. This in turn moves lever 23 down to the position of Fig. 2, and is held there by bar 49.

The mode of operation of the form just described can now be detailed briefly. To answer a call, the receiver 48 is lifted oli' the hook, and a key is used to engage the square shaft 58 and to rotate lever 53, permitting lever 23 to move upwardly and make the central station connection. However, in case others than the subscriber desire to use the phone for making a. call, it is necessary to lift the receiver off the hook 22, turn knob 70 until slot 63 alines with chute 71, deposit a coin or proper size in the slot, then turn knob 70 to operate lever 53; and then lever 23 will be released and will move upwardly. The continued rotation of knob 70 will move the coin 65 to the receptacle 31, into which it will fall. Whenever necessary or desirable, the receptacle 31 can be emptied by unlocking lock 46.

After the conversation is completed, the detent 78 is pressed inwardly, and the receiver 48 is at the same time hung on hook 22. This moves lever 23 to the position of Fig. 2, the bar 49 moving downwardly to hold it in that position.

In many cities, it is now common to provide automatic telephones; that is, telephones that have a dialing system or the like, capable of operation by the user to secure connection with another station without requiring the services of a central station operator. My invention can very readily be adapted to this form of telephone, for all that is necessary is to provide a lock for the mechanism that is to be operated by the user.

Such a form of my invention is shown in Figs. 9 to 15 inclusive. A telephone 81 having a receiver 82, a receiver hook 83, and a rotatable dial 84 is shown. The dia-l 84 is rotatably mounted on the base 85, and is provided with a series of apertures 86 whereby the linger can be used to move the dial in a manner that is now well understood in con nection with automatic telephones. But it is to be understood that my invention can be applied as well to other forms of automatic devices. It is nevertheless convenient to provide a locking lever 87 which is adapted to hold the dialing mechanism until released by the operation of a coin as hereinafter ex plained. The lever 87 is provided with a knob or projection 88 that enters one of the apertures 86, thereby holding dial 8-1 against movement.

As in my previous modification, the locking lever 87 is mounted for pivotal movement in lugs 89 and 90 (Fig. 13) formed on the casing halves 91 and 92, which are generally ofthe same form as the casing halves already described, and which may be supported in a similar manner, on the telephone. For supporting the lever 87 in this manner, it is fastened to a pivot pin 93 pivoted in the lugs 89 and 90. A spring 94 tends continuously to move lever 87 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 10) so as to unlock dial 811, but is prevented from accomplishing this by a vertically movable detent 95. This detent acts against a shoulder or projection 96 formed on the hub of lever 87, and is urged to locking position by a comparatively strong spring 97. This spring is located in a rectangular pocket 98 formed in the cleft of the two casings and is further guided by the spring post 99 fastened to the back ott detent 95.

It is evident that when detent 95 is pulled upwardly out of the way of shoulder 96, the lever 87 will fly u and release dial 84, In order to buit this iever motion, a buffer 100 of felt or the like is located in a pocket in the path of movement of a. projection or lu g 101 on lever 87.

In order to pull detent or catch 95 upwardlv, use is made of a rod or wire 102 fastenedv to the detent 95, and bent over at the top to form a projection 103. This rod is located in an aperture formed in the cleft between the two casing halves. The projection 103 is arranged to be lifted by an arm 104 of a lever 105 pivoted on a. pin 106. It is seen that spring 97 acts through rod 102 to urge lever 105 in a counterclockwise direction, and to the position shown in Fig. 10. A coin holderl 107 of construction similar to that already described, can be rotated as by knob 108 to carry coin 109 around as a cam and to depress lever 105. This action is illustrated in Fig. 15. The lever 105 has a horizontal extension 110 that extends entirely across the vslot in the coin holder, to ensure against the lcoin dropping 'into any crevice. Furthermore, the spring 97 is purposely made strong enough to maintain extension 110 against the coin 109 and to hold the coin in its slot against gravity, even in the position of Fig. 15. As

before, the wall 111 of the'casing confines the coin 109 in its slot until projection 110 comes into play. A mouth or chute 112 is also provided to permit 'the coin to be deposited.

Upon continued rotation of holder107, the coin 109 drops into the receptacle 113, where it can stay until removed as heretofore explained. To prevent rotation of holder 107 backward before coin 109 drops, a spring pawl 114 is provided, acting as before, on

9 ratchet teeth 115. A block 116 is provided for insuring against carrying the coin back toward the pawl.

The mode of operation of this form ot the device is self-evident. Upon proper operation, the lever 87 flies up, permitting a call to be made. The lever 87 can stay in locking position, while answering a call, for under such circumstances, the dial 84 need not be moved at all.

After the conversation is iinished, the receiver 82 `is hung on its hook 83, and lever 87 can be pushed down until detent 95 drops behind shoulder 96. Preferably however, in order to obviate the necessity for separately performing this relooking, I arrange a system of levers operated by the downward movement of hook 83 as the receiver 82 is hung on it, to move lever 87 to locking position. For this purpose, pin 93 of lever 87 has an extension, to which is fastened a lever arm 117 for moving the arm 87 downward. This arm 117 is arranged to be pulled up by a link 118 pivoted to it, and correspondingly pivoted at its upper end to a lever 119. This lever is pivoted at its central portion to a lug 120 formed on casing half 91. The other end of the lever 119 is provided with an adjustable abutment 121 such as formed by a screw, arranged to be engaged by the hook 83 when moved downwardly. The downward motion of abutment 121 is translated by lever 119 to an upward movement of link 118, which is in turn translated by arm 117 to a downward movement of locking lever 87. The proportioning of the parts is such that sufficient movement is imparted to lever 87 to bring it to locking position and to cause detent 95 to drop behind shoulder 96.

I claim:

1. In combination, a coin holder having a slot opening in its periphery to hold a coin in such manner that the coin projects beyond the periphery of t-he holder, means for rotating the holder, a coin receptacle into which the holder discharges the coin by gravity when the holder is turned a suiiicient amount, a locking arm, adetent resiliently urged to hold the arm in one position, and a lever having a portion in the path of movement of the coin as it moves towards discharging position, as well as a portion that serves t0 move the detent against the resilient force, said force being strong enough to hold the lever resiliently against the coin and to prevent it from dropping until after it operates the lever.

2. In combination, a coin holder having a slot openingin its periphery to hold a coin in such manner that the coin projects beyond the periphery of the holder, means for rotating the holder, a coin receptacle into which the holder discharges the coin by gravity when the holder is turned a sul-ii cient amount, a locking arm, a detent resiliently urged to hold the arm in one position, a lever having lne a portion in the path of movement of the coin as it moves towards discharging position, as Well as a portion that serves to move the detent against the resilient force, said force being strong' enough to hold the lever resiliently against the coin and to prevent it from dropping until after it operates the lever, and a pawl for preventing the coin holder from moving except in a direction to discharge the coin, when the coin operates the lever.

3. ln combination, a coin holder having a slot opening in its periphery to hold a coin in such manner that the coin projects beyond the periphery of the holder, means for rotating the holder, whereby it can discharge the coin by gravity, a locking arm, a detent resiliently urged to hold the arm in one position, and a lever having a portion in the path V, of movement of the coin as it moves towards discharging position, as Well as a portion that serves to move the detent against the resilient force, said force being strong enough to hold the lever resiliently against the coin and to g prevent it from discharging until after it operates the lever.

4. :in combination, an arm arranged to engage the dial of an automatic telephone and thus prevent its use, a detent for holding the arm in looking position, means resiliently urging the detent toward engaging position, and a coin operated device for moving the detent to unlocking position.

5. In combination, an arm arranged to engage the dial of an automatic telephone and thus prevent its use, said arm having a locking shoulder, a rod serving as a detent against the shoulder for holding the arm in locking position, a spring urging the detent to engaging position, and a coin operated device for moving the rod axially.

6. In combination, a coin box made from two halves, a rod-like detent slidable in the cleft between the halves, a telephone locking arm controlled by the said detent, and a coin operated device above the coin boX for moving the detent.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 4, with the addition of resilient means for moving the arm to unlocking position.

8. The combination as set forth in claim et, with the addition of mechanism operated by the movement of the telephone receiver hook when the receiver is replaced thereon,

I to return the arm to locking position, and

thereby to permit the detent to be resiliently urged to locking position.

9. In combination, an arm arranged to engage the dial of an automatic telephone and thus prevent its use, a detent including an axially movable rod for holding the arm in locking position, a spring urging the detent to engaging position, a lever having an arm engaging the rod, and a movable coin holder arranged to operate the lever as the holder is moved, when a coin is inserted in the holder.

l0. The combination as set forth in claim 9, in which the spring acts through the detent and lever to restrain the coin against gravital movement until after the detent is operated.

11. In combination, a member having a part adapted to engage a perforation in a dial of an automatic telephone for locking the dial, means for locking said member, coin operated means for actuating said locking means, and means separate from said coin operated means, and operated by the movement of the receiver hook toward disconnecting position, for returning the member to locking position.

l2. In combination, a member arranged to engage the dial of an automatic telephone and thus prevent its use, a detent for holding the member in locking position, means resiliently urging the detent toward engaging position, and a coin operated device for moving the detent to unlocking position.

13. In combination, a member arranged to engage the dial of an automatic telephone and thus prevent its use, a detent for holding the member in locking position, means resiliently urging the detent toward engaging position, a coin operated device for moving the detent to unlocking position, and mechanism operated by the movement of the telephone receiver hook when the receiver is replaced thereon, to return the member to locking position, and thereby to permit the detent to be resiliently urged to locking position.

ln testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

KARL W. THALHAMMER.

llt' 

